By San Diego Guide and Chicago Manager Chelsey Stone
In addition to guiding with City Running Tours for an impressive 14 years in New York City, Jill started doing our social media a year ago.
In our interview, Jill shares how she’s gone back to school a few times to pursue her many interests, her favorite parts of being a tour guide, and recommendations for lesser-known museums. Scroll to the bottom for Jill’s exclusive recommendations for NYC Marathon runners and visitors.
Jill leading a pizza run tour. See her pizza recs at the bottom of the post.
Back to school
Jill moved to New York right after college and has been working as a fashion technical designer for the last 18 years. But, she said, “I've gone back to school a few times. I studied culinary arts five years ago, and I was working part time in restaurants and as a private chef.” She became interested in cooking when changing her own diet. “I grew up mostly an omnivore, and then over time I transitioned from a flexitarian to vegetarian and that got me more interested in cooking. I thought it was a really fun, creative area, a good way to de-stress.”
This year she went back to school for a completely different field. “I did a boot camp for user experience and user interface design. That’s the industry I'm transitioning towards, something more tech with a bit more flexibility. I'm working on some projects, trying to build up my portfolio and get some experience.”
Don’t quit your day job, yet
Jill voiced something many guides can agree on: “I would love to do this full time, like I'm sure everybody would, because you get such great feedback from people in the moment. It's like meeting a new friend. Everyone's very warm and receptive to the tours. I think a lot of people, like you [gestures to me], end up keeping in touch with clients even after the runs, which is cool, whether we're following each other on Strava or Instagram, checking in from time to time or having a returning client come back. It's always fun, even if it's been a couple of months or years; it’s kind of like you're right back where you started.”
Personalized tours are just as much fun for the clients as they are for the guides. It’s a chance to shake up the standard route. Jill said, “everyone's always drawn to Central Park. It'd be great if people wanted to branch out a bit. Anytime somebody books a personalized run, you're able to mix and match from a couple of different runs, whether it's the Lower Eastside Culture Clash or doing the Brooklyn Bridge Run highlights.
Keeping it interesting
“I definitely like to change up my running routes. I'm in Astoria, so I'm just over the 59th Street Bridge. Sometimes I take the subway in and run in Central Park, if I'm doing a longer run. Sometimes I'll run part of it with a group for extra motivation and then do a couple miles on my own. Generally I enjoy doing bridges because you're crossing from one borough to the other and it provides that separation and change in scenery. Definitely like to run anywhere by the water too.”
“I run with a club called the Reservoir Dogs and they meet on the Upper East Side, pretty close to the Met. They run three or four days a week. We actually have gotten a few out of towners here and there, which is pretty cool. I also run with a group called Woodside-Sunnyside runners. That's more Queens, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside. It’s a new neighborhood group, very socially active. It’s cool to have other activities outside of running and is definitely a group that likes to eat.”
Macy’s float preview community run
Jill’s must-see museums
“Everyone always goes to the Met or the Museum of Natural History, which are great, but if you want something a little bit smaller [but equally] interesting. I really like the Museum of the City of New York. It's across from the Conservatory Garden, a nice area to walk through spring, summer, and fall. It's usually [exhibiting] something in New York City history or pop culture and something you can see in a couple hours.”
As someone who appreciates the Chicago Transit Authority, living in Chicago, I loved that Jill suggested a transit-themed museum. “The other one I really like bu feel isn’t advertised enough is the Transit Museum. That's super cool because you get to go on board these old vintage subway cars and the tour is just incredible.
Check out our personalized tours and maybe you’ll get to run with Jill and make her day!
NYC recs for our marathon travelers and visitors
Below you’ll find some rapid-fire recommendations—enjoy!
Pizza (it's always debatable)
If you like lighter, no frills Italian thin crust style I would say Lazzara's in the garment district (https://lazzaraspizza.com/)
If you like something more decadent, Artichoke is really good, their signature slice is insane in size/richness, come hungry (https://www.artichokepizza.com/)
Another good standby for slices joe, they have the perfect fold if you are on the go! (https://www.joespizzanyc.com/)
Coffee/treats
Culture espresso (a CRT favorite) multiple locations, get the choc chip cookie! (https://www.cultureespresso.com/)
Maman: amazing pastries (https://mamannyc.com/)
Blank Street Coffee: Cold Brew and non artificial ice PSL (https://www.blankstreet.com/)
Places to See
Little Island Park is a cool spot to visit and walk around or Gantry State Park in LIC (Queens) has an amazing waterfront views of midtown manhattan, Queens Bridge and Roosevelt Island (https://littleisland.org/)
Can't say enough good things about the views!
